


Candy Canes and Mistletoe

by Crimsoncat



Category: Warehouse 13
Genre: Bering & Wells Holiday Gift Exchange, Christmas Fluff, F/F, No Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-12 04:23:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9055132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crimsoncat/pseuds/Crimsoncat
Summary: A brief snapshot of life at the Warehouse during the holidays. Tree decorating and disappearing candy canes and mistletoe, oh my!





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 2016 Bering and Wells holiday fic exchange.
> 
> For l4ura5. I hope you enjoy it! :)
> 
> This is set in some vague time before season 3, in a world without the events at Warehouse 2 and Yellowstone. As always, feedback would be very much appreciated. Please forgive any typos or grammatical errors. I haven't had much time to edit this as much as I normally would, but I wanted to get it posted before it got much later. I'll go through in a few days and clean it up a bit more. Thanks for understanding!
> 
> Happy holidays everyone!

Myka eyes the Christmas tree suspiciously. She briefly stepped out of the room to use the bathroom, and she's pretty sure there are fewer candy canes than there were when she left. The floorboards beside the tree squeak softly, though Myka is alone in the room. She narrows her eyes dangerously.

  
“Pete?” Myka calls loudly, glancing around the empty room before going back to scanning the tree branches.There's no response. She can hear Leena and Helena in the kitchen, and Claudia is still upstairs wrapping her last few presents. Artie is tucked away at the Warehouse, and Pete is supposedly there helping to organize the science fiction area. But in that moment, as impossible as  it may be, Myka is almost positive that Pete is there stealing candy canes off the Christmas tree.

  
Leena and Helena wander into the room with a tray of cookies and eggnog, and Myka turns away from her examination of the tree at the sound of their footsteps and quiet conversation. They’re both wearing Santa hats, and that sight alone is enough to smooth out Myka’s furrowed brow. Her annoyed and suspicious look is replaced with an easy smile, and it grows even bigger when Helena looks away from Leena to grin at her.

  
“The tree is coming along nicely, darling,” Helena compliments her. “The lights look spectacular.”

  
Leena nods in agreement. “Thanks for volunteering to do it. I couldn't take another year of Pete trying to untangle the lights.”

  
Myka laughs as she accepts a cup of eggnog from her friend. “You didn't enjoy him setting fire to the drapes?”

  
“How exactly does someone start a fire while trying to untangle small electric lights?” Helena blinks at them curiously.

  
“You try and use an artifact to make it go faster,” Leena explains.

  
Helena shakes her head, chuckling softly. “Ah, yes, that would do it.”

  
“Claud!” Myka calls loudly. “Cookies!”

  
Claudia comes tearing down the stairs moments later. She dumps her wrapped presents on the couch and heads straight for Leena’s Christmas cookies. Claudia sighs happily before shoving a cookie into her mouth and practically swallowing it whole.

  
“You've been spending too much time with Pete,” Myka laughs.

  
Claudia grabs two more cookies instead of responding.

  
Helena peers into the plastic tote full of Christmas decorations and pulls out a box of silver and blue glass balls. “These are lovely,” she murmurs.

  
Myka blinks at the tone of Helena’s voice, not missing the subtle hitch in her words. Myka places a hand on her arm and squeezes gently. She's rewarded with a sad smile as Helena answers the unspoken question in Myka’s eyes.

  
“Cristina adored Christmas,” Helena tells her. “She would have absolutely loved this.”

  
Leena offers her a ziplock bag full of metal hooks. “Did you decorate the tree together?”

  
“Every year,” Helena says as she plucks a hook from the bag. “Even as a toddler, Cristina loved watching as it transformed into a Christmas tree before her eyes.”

  
Helena pulls out one of the glass ornaments, placing the box safely on the coffee table before threading the hook through the cap of the blue and silver ball. Helena places it on the tree carefully, making sure it hangs just so on the branch. It's covered in tiny glittering snowflakes and Helena watches as they sparkle in the light of a nearby bulb.

  
“Perfect first ornament placement,” Claudia nods approvingly.

  
Helena gives her a weak chuckle and turns away from the tree. She’s surprised to find the three women watching her intently with varying degrees of love and understanding in their gazes.

  
“We’ll make a Christmas tree Cristina would be proud of,” Leena promises.

  
Myka offers Helena another glass ball, this one red and gold. She's already attached the hook and Helena accepts it gratefully.

  
“Thank you,” Helena murmurs softly, smiling as she glances between the three of them.

  
Claudia grabs one of the glasses of eggnog and heads for the stereo while Helena hangs the second ornament. Her iPod is already connected, and she queues up the holiday playlist she made earlier in the day. Mariah Carey’s voice fills the room, singing about all she wants for Christmas, and Claudia smiles. She sips her eggnog and moves towards the tote full of decorations as Leena hangs another glass ball on the tree and Myka puts hooks on the ornaments for them.

  
Helena trails her fingers across Myka’s wrist before taking the next ornament from her and Myka twitches, nearly dropping the delicate decoration. Helena laughs quietly, charmed by the soft blush that spreads across Myka’s cheeks as the other two glance in their direction.

  
The tree comes together bit by bit, slowly becoming an actual Christmas tree instead of an evergreen with lights and candy canes on it. Once most of the decorations have been hung they each step back and consider their Christmas tree ornament placement.

  
“It needs more tinsel over there,” Claudia notes, pointing to the an area on the left side of the tree.

  
“And there’s too much red clustered near the bottom,” Leena adds.

  
Helena hums in agreement. “What do you think, Myka?” She asks, turning to the woman beside her and blinking in surprise when she finds Myka frowning at the tree. “Is everything alright?”

  
“We’re missing more candy canes,” Myka says after a moment.

  
The other three look back at the tree and realize that she's right. They hadn't noticed earlier, but now, specifically looking for the candy canes, they notice how few there actually are.

  
“Well, that’s odd,” Helena remarks.

  
“I only had one,” Claudia says quickly before anyone can accuse her of inhaling them.

  
Helena shrugs. “I had one as well, but that doesn't explain how half of them have gone missing.”

  
“They couldn't have,” Leena insists. “Not without one of us noticing.” The four women study the tree quietly for a few minutes.

  
“We must have miscounted,” Claudia says, breaking the silence. “Unless the B&B is haunted, or we suspect artifact shenanigans!”

  
Leena frowns at her. “My B&B isn't haunted.”

  
“And I’m unaware of any artifact that would behave this way,” Helena adds.

  
“Ok,” Claudia glances between them. “Then we must have miscounted. Right?”

  
Leena and Helena reluctantly nod in agreement though Myka continues to study the Christmas tree. She knows she didn't miscount the candy canes, but she doesn't press the issue. Claudia grabs some more tinsel to fill the small void on the side of the tree while Leena and Helena begin redistributing some of the red ornaments, and Myka continues to contemplate the missing candies.

  
*

  
Hours later, long after Claudia and Leena have retired for the night, Helena and Myka sit together on the couch wrapping presents by the light of the tree. Claudia’s holiday mix continues to play in the background, and it's easily the happiest holiday moment that Myka has ever had.

  
Myka finishes taping her last gift and relaxes back against the couch with a contented sigh. “This is really nice,” She says softly.

  
Helena smiles. “Yes. It is.”

  
Myka smiles up at the ceiling. Distracted by the feel of Helena’s leg pressed against her own, she doesn't immediately recognize the object hanging above them. When she does, her heart stutters in her chest.

  
“Helena..”

  
The Victorian doesn't look up from the present she’s wrapping. “Hm?”

  
Myka opens her mouth, but words fail her. Helena looks up after the silence stretches too long and finds Myka still staring at the ceiling. Helena glances up to see what has caught Myka’s attention.

  
“Ah,” Helena remarks. She's unable to hide her smile.

  
“Did you put that there?” Myka asks, eyeing the mistletoe suspiciously.

  
“If I had I would have drawn your attention to it sooner,” Helena answers honestly, making Myka laugh.

  
Helena shifts towards her. She slowly raises her hand towards Myka, gently tracing the ridge of Myka’s brow before trailing her fingers down the side of Myka’s face. Helena doesn't miss the subtle tremble beneath her fingertips as she curls her fingers around Myka’s jaw and cups her cheek.

  
“You have the most beautiful laugh,” Helena murmurs softly as she brushes her thumb against Myka’s skin.

  
Myka leans towards her, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips as she slowly closes the distance between them. “You say the sweetest things.”

  
“I mean every word,” Helena assures her.

  
They’re so close that Helena can feel Myka’s smile widen. Helena’s hand moves into Myka’s hair, tightly gripping her curls and making Myka gasp. And that sound, that sharp inhalation of air, is her undoing. Helena pulls Myka the last few millimeters, kissing her fiercely and groaning deeply when Myka matches her passion.

  
_“Holy crap!”_ A familiar voice exclaims behind them.

  
They spring apart, breathing heavily, and the sight of Myka like that, hair tousled and skin flushed, is enough to make Helena forget momentarily why they separated.

  
Myka looks away from her with a low growl that makes Helena’s stomach flip. “Alright, where the hell are you?!” Myka demands, annoyance heavy in her voice.

  
“You're not allowed to get mad,” Pete says after a few moments.

  
Helena glances around the room. They're still the only ones there. She looks at Myka and shakes her head. “I’m afraid it’s too late for that,” Helena says to the empty room.

  
“Damn right,” Myka mutters, turning towards his voice.

  
The air next to the tree shimmers as Pete materializes before their eyes. One moment the space is empty, and the next Pete is standing before them tugging off a pair of white gloves.

  
Myka recognizes the artifact immediately. “The prop gloves from the Invisible Man movie. Pete!”

  
“Yeah,” Pete confirms nervously. “I found them while I was helping Artie.”

  
“And you've been using them to steal the candy canes off of the Christmas tree?” Helena asks, though she already knows the answer.

  
Pete shrugs helplessly. “It seemed like a good idea at the time? I thought I’d grab a few more before bed, I didn't know you two were…” He gestures vaguely towards them.

  
“Mistletoe,” Myka mutters, pointing above them.

  
“Uh-huh,” Pete grins.

  
Myka moves to get up off the couch, probably to punch him in the shoulder (if he’s lucky), but she’s stopped by Helena’s hand on her wrist. When Myka glances away from Pete to look at Helena, he uses the momentary distraction to escape.

  
“This isn't over, Lattimer!” Myka calls after him. The only response she gets is the sound of him fleeing up the stairs.

  
“We will deal with him tomorrow,” Helena promises soothingly.

  
“I can't believe he did that!” Myka exclaims. Helena arches an eyebrow at her and Myka sighs. “Okay, fine,” She amends. “I can _absolutely_ believe he did that.”

  
Helena chuckles and shifts closer to the other woman. “A problem for another day, perhaps?”

  
She knows the exact moment she regains Myka’s full attention. Helena reads it in the subtle shift of Myka’s body language, and the way the annoyance is replaced by a different kind of tension. A slow smile spreads across Myka’s face as her eyes darken.

  
“A problem for another day,” Myka agrees.

  
It's the last thing anyone says for awhile.


End file.
